Heena Sharma Blog

Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK government can breathe a sigh of relief as his party won eight seats and leading in one, out of the 22 assembly seats in the by-polls, which could help it survive with a majority on the floor even though Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won 11 seats and was leading in two seats. This was the trend as of 8.30 a.m. on Friday, according to Election Commission of India. While this is a good news for the ruling faction, the disappointment was the poor performance of the party and its alliance partners including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha election in the state. It was a clear sweep by DMK-Congress alliance which was leading in Lok Sabha seats. AIADMK won one Lok Sabha seats, while DMK and its alliance bagged the rest. DMK alone won 23 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Tamil Nadu bypolls and Lok Sabha elections in 2019 are closely watched for two reasons. All the main parties – AIADMK, DMK, AMMA and MNM -- went for ele...

Of the candidates contesting the first phase of Lok Sabha elections , 213 (17%) have declared they are facing criminal cases, of which 146 (12%) face serious criminal charges, as per an analysis of candidates’ affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). About a third (32%) or 401 of 1,266 candidates whose affidavits were studied have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are notable for having all (25 from TDP and 17 from TRS) ‘crorepati’ candidates. Nearly half of all candidates have declared they have a graduate degree or above, while 1.5% have declared they are just literate, and 5.2% that they are illiterate. About a third of candidates are aged between 25 and 40 years, while more than half are between 41 and 60 years. The first phase of polling began on April 11, 2019. ADR studied the affidavits of 1,266 of the 1,279 candidates who are contesting during this ...

Some policemen on election duty here were served meals in packets labelled " Namo Foods ", following which officials clarified that those were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political party. The food packets, brought in the boot of a hatchback car, were distributed around 9.30 am among personnel deployed in Sector 15A here, the officials said. "Misinformation is being spread that some policemen have been distributed food from a political party. This is absolutely wrong. At local level, some food packets were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political party," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna said. "Some people are spreading wrong and politically motivated rumour. There is no official order to procure food from any particular food outlet," he said, and appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours being spread via social media. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Two opinion polls in lead up to the Lok Sabha elections 2019 predict that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will come back to power, while one says the ruling alliance will fall five seats short of the magic number of 272. Three days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, a survey by Time Now- VMR shows that the NDA will come back to power with 279 seats. It projects 149 seats for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and 115 for other parties and candidates. The BJP and its allies are expected to win 267 of the 543 parliament seats at stake, the CVoter polling agency said, just five short of the halfway mark required to rule. The latest estimate is down sharply from the alliance’s current tally of 330 seats secured when Modi swept to power in 2014, promising to transform India. “ In the immediate aftermath of the Balakot strikes the percentage of those strongly satisfied with the government rose to a recent all-time high of 52 per cent,”...

India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party said on Monday it would remove decades-old special rights for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, making an election promise that could provoke a backlash in the country’s volatile only Muslim majority state. “ Nationalism is our inspiration,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the release of the BJP’s election manifesto at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Modi’s BJP has consistently advocated ending Kashmir’s special constitutional status, which prevents outsiders from buying property in the state, arguing that such laws have hindered its integration with the rest of the country. “ We believe that Article 35A is an obstacle in the development of the state,” the BJP manifesto said, referring to the 1954 amendment to the constitution. Political leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where India is fighting an armed insurgency against its rule, have warned that repealing the law would lead to widespread unrest. Read More ...

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to accord urgent hearing to Congress leader Hardik Patel 's plea challenging the Gujarat High Court order rejecting stay on his conviction in the 2015 Vispur rioting case. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. The bench also comprising Justices M M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha told the counsel appearing for Patel that there was no urgency in hearing the matter as the high court order was passed in August last year. "The order was passed in August 2018. What is the urgency now?" the bench said while refusing to accord urgent hearing on the petition. Patel, 25, had started preparations to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after joining the party on March 12 and the last date for filing of nominations is April 4. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Jawli village in Ghaziabad district is about 34 km to the east of Delhi and Khanupur in Muzaffarnagar district is 133 km away. The distance is a signifier at least in one aspect: closer to Delhi, the inhabitants of the rural pockets had the “national” picture in mind when they discussed elections. Pulwama, the air strikes and Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s ‘valour’ occupied the mind space. Further away from the National Capital Region (NCR), the issues were basic, impinging on people’s livelihoods and quotidian concerns. Although both the districts -- Jat-dominated Muzaffarnagar more so -- have families with historical links to the military and one or more members working in the armed forces, the perceptions about the India-Pakistan conflicts varied. If Jawli celebrated Modi’s “courage”, at Shahpur Badoli, nearly 50 kms away, the students of Baghpat colleges asked tough questions. Amit Tomar, a 21-year Commerce student, said, “Till today, the government has not showed proof tha...

The Congress on Friday fielded actress Urmila Matondkar from Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency two days after she joined the party. Matondkar had joined the Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday and had later said that she was "here to stay". "The Congress central election committee has approved the candidature of Urmila Matondkar as party candidate to contest the ensuing general elections from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra," a party statement said. After joining the party, Matondkar had said she felt the need to join the Congress party as the freedom to express was under attack in the country and there are numerous examples in this regard in the last five years. She had said the Congress party has participated in the freedom struggle and it stood for freedom. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mobilising itself on social media and on the ground by invoking the chowkidar (watchman) tag, the move has both political and business underpinnings. For one, private security companies -– a booming sector in India -- have donated varying amounts of money to the BJP. A look at the contribution reports of political parties shows that while real estate companies donated both to BJP and Congress, private security sector donations were unique to the BJP. In 2017-18 at least seven private security companies donated to a sum of almost Rs 61 lakh to the party. The biggest donor among these was Security & Intelligence Service (SIS) – one India’s biggest private security companies. It donated Rs 50 lakh to BJP in 2017-18. There were other small security companies which donated as little as Rs 21,000 to the saffron party. Although donations by private security companies are unique to BJP, they are a drop in the ocean of Rs 438 crore donations re...

emale voters hold the potential to be game-changers by playing a significant role in ensuring more gender-inclusive laws and policies, making the year 2019 India's " year of women ", Chair of the Hinduja Bank, Switzerland, Hinduja SP Shanu said as the country readies for its upcoming crucial national elections. Shanu said that as India heads to the polls this spring, it is important to note that more women are heading to the ballot than ever before, with voter turnout among women having been higher in several state elections in the country. "More female voters are additionally likely to lead to more gender-inclusive laws and policies. Gender awareness not only transforms how candidates campaign, but also opens doors for more female candidates in the running, and greater opportunities for female leverage within national decision-making bodies," Shanu, the Chair of the Hinduja Foundation US, said in an opinion piece given to PTI. Shanu pointed out that ...

With the model code of conduct coming into force for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls , Uttar Pradesh Police, touted as the world’s largest single command armed police force, had advised cops to exercise restraint over social media activities. UP Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh has underlined the uniformed cops ought not to be seen or perceived as favouring a particular political party or candidate through their social media updates. In the poll related advisory issued last evening, the cops have been asked not to accept any gift from any political party or candidate in light of the model code of conduct. Besides, the policemen have been directed to desist from posting politically coloured social media updates as well for the sake of being impartial and non-partisan during the polls. The state cops have also been advised against indulging in harassment of political functionaries at the behest of rival political party or leader, while ensuring that the policemen do not, t...

A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar predicted a change of government at the Centre after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls , Union minister Ramdas Athawale countered him saying the NDA will continue to occupy power with Narendra Modi as the prime minister. "I believe the current government will continue after the 2019 general elections. The NDA will be in power under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," Athawale said in a statement. "The so-called unity of the opposition is not happening, hence such distractive messages are being circulated," the Minister of State for Social Justice added. Pawar had Tuesday claimed that Narendra Modi will not be the prime minister after the next year's Lok Sabha polls, and that there will be change in government at the Centre and in Maharashtra. "There will be change in government in Delhi and Maharashtra. No single party can provide an alternative. I do not think Narendra Modi will be prime minister after the L...

Union minister M J Akbar , facing charges of sexual harassment that go back to his time as newspaper editor, has not only refused to step down but insinuated that the approaching Lok Sabha elections had a bearing on the allegations. Speaking on Sunday after his return from his official visit abroad, he said he would take legal action against the women who had alleged sexual harassment by him. Akbar’s holding out, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, stemmed from the seeming support he received from the party leadership. However, the sources also said Akbar was likely to be dropped as minister. Though there is little political cost to the BJP if Akbar goes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a track record since his time as chief minister of Gujarat of backing his ministers even when they have faced criminal charges and have been chargesheeted. For the time, Akbar has been given an opportunity to defend himself, party sources said. Read Complete Article ...